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Essay Subject: Examines activities, politics, treatment, labor activism of Jews, focusing on late 19th & early 20th Cent.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Examines activities, politics, treatment, labor activism of Jews, focusing on late 19th & early 20th Cent. Paper Introduction: Jewish immigrants in America brought with them a sense of involvement in political action far stronger than many other immigrant groups. Large numbers of early immigrants either imported or adopted an interest in Socialism as a political system that promised alleviation of social and economic injustice. But it was the post-1900 generation of Eastern European Jews--actively persecuted and severely restricted in movement and most freedoms in Russia, Poland, the Ukraine, and other locales--who raised the level of activism in America, often being forced to take action against German Jewish immigrants who owned the large factories in which they labored. On emigrating to America they found that their marginalized status and restricted opportunities continued the need for political action while, at the same time, greater freedom in most respects allowed Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. As Hyman points out,the broadly politicized nature of Jewish immigrants led to an interplayamong those with various political affiliations and interests to which "thecompartmentalization of the immigrant community by historians intoOrthodox, socialist and anarchist, and Zionist sectors does not do justice"(143). A greater degree of intellectualemancipation and increased residence outside the shtetls in the cities hadfamiliarized them with new ideas and with the realities of factory labor.Jews were strongly attracted to the socialist-revolutionary ideas spreadingthroughout Eastern and Central Europe. The most prominent of these was Emma Goldman, whose statusas the "very incarnation of the radical Jew" led to her later deportationunder the terms of the Espionage Statute of 1917; an event that Sachar,ironically, seems to regard more in the light of a good break for AmericanJewry than as an infringement on Goldman's First Amendment rights (297). In many of their endeavors, however,American Jews had been successful in changing their immediatecircumstances, establishing themselves as a force in politics, and securingtheir rights. Jewish immigrants in America brought with them a sense of involvementin political action far stronger than many other immigrant groups. Irving Howe described the elation and excitement felt by the youngJews who joined the socialist and communist movements in the 193 s. But the party had never taken avery active interest in labor issues and the idealistic UHT had never beenparticularly effective. New York: Vintage, 1993. 135-46.Sachar, Howard M. Thus when the party declined in strength the UHTwas forced to allow its member unions to begin to associate with SamuelGompers' American Federation of Labor (AFL), founded 1886. As Women's Suffrage leader and ILGWU organizer RoseSchneiderman said in her eulogy for the dead Triangle workers, Jewishworkers knew "that it [was] up to working people to save themselves"(quoted in Sachar 188). They were individuals who "were sufficiently traditional to buykosher meat and to use the synagogues and hevras as areas for potentialrecruitment," yet they also saw initiating political action as one of theirprerogatives (Hyman 143). When internal union organizers were fired by theTriangle company one thousand women left the factory at the strike order oftheir local branch of the ILGWU. Jewish women "had never been bannedfrom the secular public sphere" and both the labor and Zionist movements inRussia, for example, had drawn heavily on female participation (Hyman 144). Largenumbers of early immigrants either imported or adopted an interest inSocialism as a political system that promised alleviation of social andeconomic injustice. But it was the post-19 generation of EasternEuropean Jews--actively persecuted and severely restricted in movement andmost freedoms in Russia, Poland, the Ukraine, and other locales--who raisedthe level of activism in America, often being forced to take action againstGerman Jewish immigrants who owned the large factories in which theylabored. Those who moved on to America, andother new arrivals from the East, quickly established the Bund in New Yorkand by 19 6 there were fifty branches with three thousand members in theUnited States. At thetime radical political involvement had become somewhat suspect to manyolder immigrants, such as Howe's parents, since they felt it worked againsttheir children's chances of successful assimilation. Indeed, as Louis Brandeis put it,aside from its practical consequences for those who wished to live inPalestine, Zionism was important to American Jews--who were becomingdemoralized by a decline in communal "moral and spiritual support" in freeAmerica--as a means of developing a "sense of noblesse oblige . After 19 3, however, the new Jewish immigrants were even more deeplypoliticized than their predecessors. Among the earlier generations of Jewish immigrants the principalsocialist affiliation was with the Socialist labor Party, led by Daniel DeLeon. The extent to which Jewish immigrants were politicized can be seen inthe 19 2 Consumer Boycott of kosher meat suppliers (the Meat Trust, so-called). Organizing labor to battle thehorrifying conditions in urban sweatshops became the focus of politicalattention. A History of the Jews in America. De Leon's authoritarianism, however,drove away numerous supporters and by 19 the more moderate SocialistParty, under the leadership of Eugene Debs, attracted the majority ofJewish socialists. After World War I, which had considerably muted Jewish politicalradicalism, the prosperity of the 192 s produced increased opportunity forJews and political activism continued to maintain a relatively low profile. But in 1911 the horrifying fire at the Triangle factory,in which 147 women and 21 men were killed (largely because they were lockedin to prevent unauthorized lavatory breaks), became the catalyst that"transformed Jewish workers into an organized presence on the industrialscene" (Sachar 186). A Margin of Hope: An Intellectual Autobiography. "Zionism Is Consistent with American patriotism." 496- 97.Howe, Irving. At first the political impulse was expressed toward targets mostimmediately in need of attention. The party was popular among Gentile German immigrants in the Midwestbut the adherence of New York Jews, beginning in the 188 s, made it apolitical force in the East as well. Affiliation with the Socialist Party continued to be the mainstay of localJewish politics but, on the national level, Woodrow Wilson's "distinguishedreformist record and intellectual credentials" had made "unprecedentedinroads among American Jewry's traditional Republican loyalties" (Sachar217-18). Many Bundists first emigrated to London, where they became familiarwith Western industrial conditions. It was begun and run byJewish housewives in Manhattan who, already hard-pressed to feed theirfamilies, refused to be taken advantage of. Yet it was the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU),long the most radical branch of the AFL, which initiated the first majorstrike that began the so-called "Great Revolt" of 19 9-1914 within thegarment industry. The party's appeal for Jews was based on theirfamiliarity with socialism's reputation of opposition to oppression inEurope, on its willingness "to let them register quasi-independently intheir own foreign-language federations," and on the party's "solid Americanbase" which made them feel a legitimate part of the political system oftheir new home (Sachar 176). The memory of "brutal governmental suppression" in Russiaincreased the radicalism of many Jewish immigrants who were attracted toAnarchism, which, despite the fact that it promoted violent responses tosociety's ills, kept a small, but loyal, minority of adherents for decades(Sachar 175). The connection between the state of people's economicprospects and their degree of political activism--rather than commitment tospecific ideology or, with the anarchists, generalized aggressiveopposition--points up how practical most Jewish political affiliation was.The arrival of economically unstable times always tended to bring with theman increase in nativist anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic behavior and, takentogether, the need to protect themselves as well as their economicinterests motivated greater involvement in politics. Their strike was immediately met withsevere police harassment yet, partly because the strikers were, for thefirst time in America, primarily women, they managed to secure favorablepublic opinion and the company settled with them after a long walkout.This success prompted Gompers to initiate other actions that had onlylimited success. The Great Depression, however, brought on an upsurge in Jewishinterest in radical political affiliations and a need for increased laboractivism. But the practical aims of thefirst two overshadowed the importance of Zionism which, in America, hadfewer immediate practical connotations and was largely an expression ofconcern for Jews elsewhere (such as those remaining in Russia) and for anideal of ethnic/religious identity. Although labor activism continued to be necessary on and offuntil World War II, many Jews also turned to the Socialist party as a meansof developing a voice in the broader political arena. inthose who regard their people as destined to live and to live with a brightfuture" (497). Younger Jewish workers in Russiahad organized the Bund, "their own Jewish branch of Russia's SocialDemocratic party" and Jews had "participated disproportionately inconspiratorial political intrigues, strikes, sabotage, even armed violenceagainst the detested Romanov regime" (Sachar 174-75). . "Immigrant Women and Consumer Protest: The New York City Kosher Meat Boycott of 19 2. The women's success showed clearly the politicizednature of Jewish immigrant society. Howe, who describedhis socialist enthusiasm as a neo-conservative of the 198 s intent onapologizing and minimizing his past, claimed that young socialists had nohope of changing the system but were moved by exciting despair derived fromtheir belief that "the 'death agony of capitalism' was now at hand--by nomeans a fatuous conclusion in the thirties" (Howe 14). New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1982.Hyman, Paula E. The Roosevelt Democratic Party, the New Deal, and the return ofprosperity during and after World War II marginalized radical politics forthe great majority of American Jews. The boycott--which featured acertain amount of active protest in the form of picketing anddemonstrations, and even smashed shop windows and burned meat--was taken tothe city's synagogues and received a great deal of support from thecommunity at large. Yet, as even headmits, under leaders such as Norman Thomas, American socialism in the193 s did undertake numerous fights against attacks on the Bill of Rightsand corrupt politicians and on behalf of the laboring poor such as theSouthern Tenant Farmers Union and other "people who had never before daredspeak for their rights" (Howe 2 ). On emigrating to America they found that their marginalizedstatus and restricted opportunities continued the need for political actionwhile, at the same time, greater freedom in most respects allowed greaterscope for, and increased the effectiveness of, political initiatives. Labor activism,Socialist affiliation, and Zionism were the predominant characteristics ofspecifically Jewish political involvement. Works CitedBrandeis, Louis D. But Jewish workers, who usually proceeded on theassumption that their families would rise above factory labor within ageneration or two, were often satisfied with meeting minor, short-termgoals and did not persist in union struggles as labor leaders felt theyshould. The AFL seemedto be the only organization capable of achieving basic improvements inworking conditions and the UHT unions believed the AFL's "support andguidance in the long run would add to their strength, and they were notwrong" (Sachar 18 ). The role of women in politics is one of the most striking aspects ofJewish labor and political history. The anarchists were, however, widely regarded by Jewish immigrants asan aberration. The United Hebrew Trades (UHT) federation, which took in much ofthe vital New York garment industry, was founded in 1888 and had beenallied with the socialist Worker party. The extent to which political actionwas an integral part of Jewish life is demonstrated by the fact that thesewere housewives, with a mean age of thirty-five and an average of 4.3children. Thus it did not surprise the immigrants of New York when one of the majorturning points in labor relations came about as the result of women'saction. Action was organized against the suppliers when the price of meatfrom kosher butchers began to take large leaps. . If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.